Quote:
Originally Posted by Green Country
I'm pretty sure your first statement is not true. Hotel tax money can be spent on items other than convention centers.
|
Oh sorry, I'm not saying hotel taxes can only be spent on convention centers, it's that the money that is being used to pay for this redo is a specific tax from nearby hotels that is allocated
only for the convention center. Fort Worth used the same specific tax to build the Dickies Arena.
We'll just have to agree to disagree about the plans though. The convention center running parallel to the freeway only amplifies the wall effect created by I-30. It's acted like having two freeways side by side.
One of the many proposed plans actually used the same convention center space but buried most of the building. I would have been okay with that but it was obviously the most expensive option of the bunch so I'm not surprised they didn't go for it. This is what it looked like:
But ultimately, I think massive conventions will be a thing of the past and pumping money into their buildings is a waste at the end of the day. The only reason I'm up for this is if we construct the new one in a more modular way that allows for way more dynamic public uses when conventions aren't going on. Undoing the 'urban fabric' damage the current building has done and opening park space is a bonus that I think offsets being somewhat further from the adolphus and all that--especially if the high speed rail station comes to fruition and the area totally transforms with its own set of hotels and dining.